Lemon squeezer



Filed July 14, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR EL.MerzoL'cu2 BY QMiLum ATTO R N EY 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR EL.Me1-zoL'm E. L. MERZOIAN LEMON SQUEEZER Filed July 14,

July 29, 1930.

Patented July 29, 1930 I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE EDWARD L. MERZOIAN, OF PORTERVILLE, CALIFORNIA LEMON SQUEEZER Application filed July 14, 1928. Serial No. 292,868.

This invention relates to hand operated deslopes down toward one side and at its lowest vices for extracting the juice from lemons, point has a discharge spout 3 leading thereoranges, and the like; my principal object be from. Thisspout is adapted to overhang an ing to provide a portable implement tor the ordinary cup 4 or similar vessel placed under? 5 purpose, especially intended and adapted for the same, the base being recessed as at 5 household use, by means of which all the under the spout to form a locating means for juice may be quickly and easily extracted the cup. from the fruit with a minimum of exertion Projecting upwardly from the bowl cenon the part of the operator. trally thereof, is a stem 6 on which is non- =10 A further object is to provide a device for turnably but removably mounted a juice exthe purpose having a fruit cutting knife artracting cone 7 of common form and having ranged as a unitary part ofthe structure, so a plurality of sharp edged ribs or corrugathat the buyer of the implement has everytions 8, extending from the top to the bottom thing at hand necessary for the cutting and on the outside thereof. Fixed in connection 1 squeezing of the fruit. with'the coneand removable therewith is a Another object is to form and mount the concave screen 9, extending over the/surface juice receiving bowl of the apparatus in such of the bowl to the rim and resting thereon.

a manner that it need not be lifted to drain Projecting upwardly from one side of the the juice, but instead the juice will discharge bowl is a rigid support 10 for one member of automatically and continuously into any suit a ball and socket joint 11, the other member able receptacle placed in a proper position. on which is attached to the adjacent end of Means is provided in the implement for a substantially horizontal lever 12. This holding the piece of fruitto be squeezed inlever normally extends diametrally across stead of the same being retained in the hand and some distance beyond the bowl and caras is commonly the case, and afurther object ries an operating pad or handle 13 on its of my invention is to provide easily actuated outer end. The lever is provided with a ejecting means for the fruit after it has been knuckle or swivel joint 14: adjacent the rim squeezed. In this manner the only manual of the bowl opposite the support so that the handling of the fruit is that necessary in conrtj n f th lever j ti b d th 30 nection with its initial cutting and the plac- Eowl can be turned down when not in use as ing of the same in the holding member. indicated, thus reducing the space the device These objects I accomplish by means of will occupy when not in service, while prosuch structure and relative arrangement of vidin a lever of considerable length when parts as will fully appear by a perusal of the in perati n, j

following specification and claims. The lever centrally of the bowl is provided 55 In the drawings similar characters of rsiwith a large vertical slot 15throug'h which erence indicate corresponding parts in the a sleeve 16 wiv lly b t n-t rnably proseveral views: jects. Turnably mounted in the sleeve but Fig. 1 is a side elevation of my impr v prevented from longitudinal movement rela- 40 lemon squeezer. tive thereto, is a spindle 17 having opposed 9o Fig. 2 is a top plan View of the sameand parallel spiral grooves 18 cut therein. A 3 is an enlargedvertical section t ke short band 19 surrounds the spindle and is on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1. disposed between said spindle and the sleeve.

Referring now more particularly o the Opposed trunnions 20 fixed in the slotted porcharacters of reference on the drawings the tion of the lever project through vertical numeral 1 denotes a shallow juice catching slots 21 in the sleeve, through the band, and bowl formed as an integral unit with a flat into the spiral grooves. A compression base 2 of considerable area, said bowl being spring 22 between the sleeve and the spindle disposed at a height above theibase greater bears at one end on the bottom of the spindle than that of an ord nary cup. The bowl and at the other end against the band to normally force the latter upwardly and to maintain the trunnions at the top of the sleeve slots.

Secured to and depending from the spindle is a hollow cone 23 normally disposed in vertical alinement with the cone 7 and provided on its interior with long shallow ribs 24. This cone is of a size to receive a half fruit to be squeezed, the ribs engaging the skin of the fruit and preventing the same from rotating in the cone. The fruit is ejected after it has been squeezed Without the necessity of grasping the same by the fingers or otherwise prying it out by means of a pad 25 mounted in the head of the cone. This pad is connected to a stem 26 projecting upwardly through the spindle and above the sleeve some distance to a knob or button 27. A compression spring 28 between the button and the top of the sleeve normally holds the ejector pad at the top of the cone.

In operation the lever 12 is first raised clear of the cone 7 so as to enable the fruit to be squeezed to be inserted therein, and the lever is then depressed. The initial depressing movement of the lever will cause the ribs 24 to be firmly imbedded in the skin of the fruit, and will also cause the body of fruit to be firmly engaged with the cone 7.

Up to this time the lever and sleeve move as a unit, without any relative movement therebetween, the spring 22 resisting the downward movement of the lever relative to the sleeve. As soon as the fruit is thus engaged with the fixed cone, it will cause a resistance to the further downward movement of the cone 23 to be had as will be evident. A continued downward pressure on the lever will therefore cause the same to move down relative to the sleeve and cone 23. The trunnions mounted in the lever will of course move down also, travelling in the slots 21, and engaging as they do the spiral grooves in the spindle, will obviously cause the latter to be rotated, the spring 22 becoming compressed as the ring 19 moves down with the lever. As a result the fruit will be rotated about the fixed corrugated cone while being held in firm pressing engagement therewith, so that all the juice will be positively and quickly extracted. Such juice will of course percolate through the screen and into the bowl from where it will run into the spout 3 and thence into the vessel 4 placed to receive the juice. As soon as the pressure on the lever is released the spring 22 acts to raise the lever to the topmost position on the sleeve, so that it is then in a position for a further depressing and cone-rotating action.

When the juice has been squeezed out of the fruit the lever is raised and swung to one side clear of the bowl and the button 27 depressed. This causes the ad 25 to engage and push the fruit out o the cone. Another piece of fruit is then inserted in the cone if desired and the operations above described are repeated.

The use of ball and socket joint between the lever and its support enables the cone 23 to be easily turned either to a horizontal or inverted position whenever necessary for cleaning purposes or to insert the fruit. The screen 9 catches the pulp and seeds, and being removable with the cone 7 as a unit enables these parts to be easily cleaned.

A raised supporting surface or table 29 for a fruit is formed with the base to one side of the bowl, and a knife 30 disposed parallel to and adjacent the inner edge of this surface is pivoted at its rear end in connection with the base, so as to bisect a fruit laid on the table and overhanging the knife engaged edge. The knife is provided with an extension handle member 31 having a swivel joint connection 32 with the knife, so that said handle member may be folded over onto the knife when not in use and thus render the device more compact for storing away. The apparatus may be kept freely portable or may be secured to any table or board by screwing the same onto the table, screw holes 33 being provided in the base for this purpose.

From the foregoing description it will be readily seen that I have produced such a device as substantially fulfills the objects of the invention as set forth herein.

lVhile this specification sets forth in detail the present and preferred construction of the device, still in practice such deviations from such detail may be resorted to as do not form a departure from the spirit of the invention, as defined by the appended claims.

Having'thus described my invention what I claim as new and useful and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A lemon squeezer including a juice catching bowl, a cone removably mounted on and directed supported from the bowl centrally thereof, and. a screen secured to the base of the cone and extending to the rim of the bowl and removable with the cone.

2. A lemon squeezer including a juice catching bowl, a cone projecting upwardly from and supported by the bowl, and a removable screen extending from about the base of the cone to and resting on the rim of the bowl.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

EDWARD L. MERZOIAN. 

